Investigating the Impact of Digital Transformation on Audit Efficiency, Production Efficiency, and Financial Performance of Companies with Regard to Firm Size
Keywords:
financial performance of companies, production efficiency, audit efficiency , Digital transformationAbstract
Digital transformation, through technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and automation, has led to improvements in audit processes, optimization of production, and enhancement of corporate financial performance. This study also examined the moderating role of firm size to determine the differences in the effects of digital technologies between small and large enterprises. The findings of the study can assist managers and policymakers in making informed decisions regarding investments in modern technologies and in enhancing organizational productivity. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of digital transformation on audit efficiency, production efficiency, and financial performance of companies, considering firm size as a moderating variable. The research data were collected from the financial statements of 159 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange over the period from 2018 to 2023. Data analysis was conducted using EViews 10 software and the application of regression models. To assess the simultaneous effects of independent variables on the dependent variables, in addition to the overall regression, separate regression analyses were also performed for each independent variable. The results indicated that digital transformation had a significant impact on audit efficiency, production efficiency, and financial performance of companies. Moreover, firm size played a moderating role in these relationships; larger companies, due to having greater resources, demonstrated a higher capacity to leverage digital technologies, while smaller companies faced challenges in this regard due to limited resources. Overall, digital transformation led to increased productivity and improved financial performance of companies, though this effect varied across firms of different sizes.
Downloads
References
Bashiri Manesh, N., & Shahnazi, H. (2022). The impact of investor and managerial behavioral biases on stock price bubbles in Iran's capital market. Financial Knowledge Securities Analysis, 15(53), 15-32. https://www.sid.ir/paper/1063333/fa
Bushee, B. J., & Noe, C. F. (2000). Corporate Disclosure Practices, Institutional Investors, and Stock Return Volatility. Journal of Accounting Research, 38(Supplement), 171-202. https://doi.org/10.2307/2672914
Ferreira, M. A., & Laux, P. A. (2007). Corporate Governance, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Information Flow. Journal of Finance, 62(2), 951-989. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2007.01228.x
Gillan, S. L., & Starks, L. T. (2003). Corporate Governance, Corporate Ownership, and the Role of Institutional Investors: A Global Perspective. Journal of Applied Finance, 13(2), 4-22. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.439500
Hasannejad Nisi, S., Jafari Dehkurdi, H., & Fattahi Nafchi, H. (2024). Explaining the Role of Organizational Core Competency in Stock Price Synchronicity. Journal of Management Accounting and Auditing Knowledge, 15(57), 315-334.
Hasanzadeh, I., Sheikh, M. J., Arabzadeh, M., & Farzinfar, A. A. (2023). The Role of Economic Policy Uncertainty in Relation to Financial Market Instability and Stock Liquidity in Tehran Stock Exchange Companies. Dynamic Management and Business Analysis, 2(3), 163-178. https://doi.org/10.22034/dmbaj.2024.2031971.2315
Mohammadi, S., & Mansourfar, G. (2022). The Effect of Financial Data Noise on the Long-Term Co-Movement of Stock Markets. Transactions on Data Analysis in Social Science, 4(1), 9-21. https://doi.org/10.47176/tdass/2022.9
Morck, R., Yeung, B., & Yu, W. (2000). The Information Content of Stock Markets: Why Do Emerging Markets Have Synchronous Stock Price Movements? Journal of Financial Economics, 58(1-2), 215-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(00)00071-4
Nadeem, A. (2024). Behavioral and Rational Explanation of Stock Price Performance Around Mergers and Acquisitions in Pakistan: Evidence From Decomposition of Market to Book Ratio. Abbdm, 4(1), 38-52. https://doi.org/10.62019/abbdm.v4i1.102
Naderi, S., & Ghorbani, M. (2019). Analyzing the Effect of Ownership Structure on the Quality of Information in Financial Reports of Listed Companies. Accounting and Auditing Research, 11(2), 65-82.
Omol, E. J. (2024). Organizational Digital Transformation: From Evolution to Future Trends. Digital Transformation and Society, 3(3), 240-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/DTS-08-2023-0061
Rawat, B. (2023). Effect of Behavioral Biases on Investment Decision Making in Nepalese Stock Market With the Mediating Role of Investors’ Sentiment. Journal of Bhuwanishankar, 2(1), 40-61. https://doi.org/10.3126/jobs.v2i1.62195
Rezaei, K., & Bahmani, E. (2021). The Role of Institutional Investors in Reducing Information Asymmetry in Companies. Financial Accounting Quarterly, 13(4), 89-104.
Sharifi, M., Afzali, M., & Barzegar, H. (2020). The Effect of Herding Behavior on Stock Price Synchronicity in the Tehran Stock Exchange. Financial Research, 22(3), 57-78.
Truong, T. P., & Nguyen, T. T. (2021). Institutional Ownership and Stock Price Synchronicity: Evidence from Emerging Markets. Emerging Markets Review, 46, 100759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2020.100759
Vinay, H. V., Rao, D., Kumar, C., Rao, K., & Mahadevaswamy, R. M. (2024). Impact of Demographic Factors on Emotional Behavioral Biases of the Individual Investors: Empirical Study on Indian Stock Market. Migration Letters, 21(S6), 1648-1662. https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v21is6.8381
Xia, Y., & Madni, G. R. (2024). Unleashing the behavioral factors affecting the decision making of Chinese investors in stock markets. PLoS One, 19(2), e0298797. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298797
Zakamulin, V. (2024). Stock price overreaction: evidence from bull and bear markets. Review of Behavioral Finance, 16(6), 998-1011. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-03-2024-0088
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mohsen Hashemi Gohar (Corresponding author); khadije Razi (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.